For decades, the feathered renkrodas of Castrovel have teetered on the brink of extinction. Sympathies have grown for species' plight, and thanks to contributions from Radaszam of the Acquisitives faction, a gala and pledge drive is scheduled in one of Castrovel's wilderness preserves. When the PCs attend the gala as Radaszam's escort, they quickly learn that a group of extremists have dangerous plans of their own to end to the renkrodas' plight. When these extremists launch a daring attack, it's up to the PCs to save the gala, save the attendees, and—most of all—save the renkrodas!

Content in Save the Renkrodas also contributes to the ongoing goals of the Acquisitives faction.

Average product rating:

Another great flavor scenario.

Starfinder is really hitting it out of the park with some great flavor scenarios. And this scenario is no exception. I won’t ruin it because it’s super fun, but as there is a giant t-Rex like beast on the cover, I feel it’s safe to say things get all Jurassic Park. I will say that once you peel back the veneer of awesome silly fun, you find that these scenarios are fairly straitght-line adventures, which some of my friends dislike, so keep that in mind. But if you want to live a cheesy action spy thriller movie, this is the scenario for you!

Great Scenario

Based on my experiences playing at PaizoCon 2018 and running at my local gaming store…

I really enjoyed this scenario. It felt good to revisit Ukulam after Temple of the Twelve, and rather than go paragraph format, here’s a list of what I enjoyed in the scenario, in no particular order:

Spoiler:

I thought the vehicle combat was well executed. Seeing a softer side of Radaszam (donating money to conservation efforts) did a lot for me to develop the faction leader who, in my opinion, has seen the least development (maybe along with Fitch) so far in SFS. Seeing as The First Mandate was one of my favorite scenarios, it makes sense that I’d like to see the PCs at another gala showing off – although the PCs’ actions at this one didn’t seem to affect the scenario very much one way or the other. Fighting a swarm for (I believe) the first time in SFS was a surprise and made for a challenging combat – time to buy more grenades! The Renkroda-related boon on the chronicle sheet is probably my favorite one-off boon so far, not counting Star Sugar Heartlove-related merch.

A few things that I wish were done a little differently:

Spoiler:

The optional fight isn’t really introduced – I think it’s implied they’re working for the Esowath Conservatory in the scenario text, but as a player it just seemed like they showed up and we had a combat without much (any?) of an intro. I also which the PCs’ actions at the gala before the scenario really kicked off meant a little bit more – I might’ve missed it, but I couldn’t find any positive or negative consequences to PC behavior at the beginning affecting the rest of the scenario. Also, before the PCs go investigate near the beginning of the scenario (and then run into the swarm) the scenario says that “Radaszam insists the PCs investigate right away (instead of going to get their heavy weapons)” because time is of the essence. While I understand the sentiment, a PC in one of my games almost refused to go without running “right over there” to get his weapon – and it seems like something that could wait the ~30 seconds it would take the PCs to retrieve their gear, given Radaszam isn’t briefing them while sprinting into the jungle. Finally, the last fight was just “okay” for me, but it’s hard to top the renkroda chase followed by combat with a huge animal.

Please be aware, the Vehicle tag is a new tag that will be introduced in future iterations of the Starfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide. As you might expect, this tag indicates that the scenario incorporates some vehicle combat.

Please be aware, the Vehicle tag is a new tag that will be introduced in future iterations of the Starfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide. As you might expect, this tag indicates that the scenario incorporates some vehicle combat.

I'm glad that people are so receptive to these tidbits! It's one of the neat things we can work in when starting up a new campaign.

Absolutely! I'm one of those people who loves to theorize the different "perfect" paths for a single character to level through the scenarios. The cross story seeds and shoutouts really gives the campaign that cool larger story feel I'm sure you're going for.

Thurston Hillman wrote:

As for the spoiler... well, be sure to play this scenario when it gets released :)

Also, for those of us wanting to find/make special minis, do these vehicles have representation in the Core pawn set (It seems unlikely)? Can you share the basic structure of the vehicles, as well as their size: map squares?

There's quite a bit to like here, but there are parts of the adventure that feel rushed.

I also see an oddity with the second battle's rewards - or penalties rather. It reads "If the PCs do defeat the ________, reduce each PC’s credits earned by the following amount. If you skip this encounter for lack of time, ignore these reductions." But there's no reason why the PCs should be rewarded for losing.

There's quite a bit to like here, but there are parts of the adventure that feel rushed.

I also see an oddity with the second battle's rewards - or penalties rather. It reads "If the PCs do defeat the ________, reduce each PC’s credits earned by the following amount. If you skip this encounter for lack of time, ignore these reductions." But there's no reason why the PCs should be rewarded for losing.

It should probably read:

"If the PCs face the [REDACTED] but do not defeat them, reduce each PC's credits earned by the following amount. If you skip this encounter for lack of time, ignore these reductions."

This scenario has some nice highlights, but I am wondering what a Compsikania is? There seems to be absolutely 0 descriptor outside of tiny animal which seems like an oversight. I could not find these creatures in Dead Suns 2, Alien Archive, nor Pact Worlds. Are they just meant to be Compsognathus?

This scenario has some nice highlights, but I am wondering what a Compsikania is? There seems to be absolutely 0 descriptor outside of tiny animal which seems like an oversight. I could not find these creatures in Dead Suns 2, Alien Archive, nor Pact Worlds. Are they just meant to be Compsognathus?

Oh goodness! The mistake is entirely mine. I've added the description to the GM thread so a player doesn't get spoiled.